Cill Dara Shinn Féin Poblachtach

The recent furore caused by Enda Kenny, James Reilly and Eamon Gilmore reneging on “election pledges” given during the recent 26-County Election regarding Roscommon A&E and other hospitals sums up the worth of the political class presiding over this ‘failed political entity’. The ‘Bard’ wrote: “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”; in this case it is the state that is rotten.

Before the last 26-County election Republican Sinn Féin pointed out that the election was meaningless as it entailed merely replacing one set of gombeen politicians with another. Within less than a month of the formation of the new 26-County Administration it was clear for all who were willing to see that the real political and economic masters were in Brussels and Frankfurt and not in Dublin. Kenny and his cohorts fell over themselves to sign up to the austerity programme agreed by their predecessors. It seems it was Frankfurt’s way after all!

The political and economic reality is that the denizens of Leinster House and Merrion Square are merely managers of a programme, which has been set out for them by the EU/ECB and IMF. Today the ‘Troika’ tell us that the 26-County State is “on track”. But on track to what? you well may ask, ‘hell in a hand cart’ is one answer that springs to mind. The most vulnerable and marginalised in society are in the sights of this political and economic elite not just in Ireland but also across Europe. In Greece the people have been told they must pay the debts of the financial elite at the cost of the ownership of the very land beneath their feet. Here the old, the young, the unemployed and those with special needs are to be the fodder used to bolster up a failed currency and the failed political project that is the EU.

Enough is enough! Tinkering around the edges is not the answer. People need to seize the moment themselves and in doing so reject a political and chattering class who will never let go of this failed system because it will never be in their own self-interest to do so. People need to get out and get radical just as the people of Greece have shown. We must demand a real Republic an All-Ireland Republic. One that is worthy of the definition given to us in the 1916 Proclamation. On Bastille Day we remember the very roots of Irish Republicanism: Liberté, égalité, fraternité. It is time to cast off the shackles of the old imperialism of London – in occupation of part of our country - and the new imperialism of the EU/ECB/IMF.

Finally I would like to pay tribute to the late Liam Cotter of Co Kerry. Liam brought the same unselfish commitment and dedication to everything he did, whether it was for the Republican Movement or the GAA. He was a stalwart of both. Liam Cotter was very conscious of the proud Republican tradition of his beloved Kerry and lived up to that tradition throughout his life. He never faltered or wavered from the straight road to the All-Ireland Republic. When we march to the dawn light of freedom you will march with us Liam. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Read the newest entry from the Blog of Republican Sinn Féin President Des Dalton.

It is almost two weeks since my last post but a lot has happened in that time. Fergal Moore and myself experienced at first hand the ‘hospitality’ of the RUC/PSNI in Lurgan barracks last week. We were arrested and charged with participating in a march calling for the release of Republican Martin Corey in Lurgan on January 23 last. Martin, by the way was the longest serving Republican prisoner in Long Kesh serving 19 years. He was released in 1992. He was interned without trial in April of last year and has been held in Maghaberry prison ever since.

The arrest of the President and Vice President of Republican Sinn Féin marks the culmination of a clear pattern of harassment by both partitionist states with the clear intention of silencing our organisation. Within a month of the ‘Free Martin Corey March’ in January the British Colonial Police issued a letter accusing me of participating in an “illegal parade”. Similar letters were issued in relation to other members of Republican Sinn Féin in the Lurgan and Armagh areas. This was followed up a number of arrests.

In May Cait Trainor a member of our Ard Chomhairle along with Sean Maloney a former POW and member of the Thomas Harte Cumann in Lurgan were arrested and charged with “glorifying terrorism” in an interview given to Channel Four News in September of 2010. This is reminiscent of the kind of draconian legislation used by the Spanish State in the Basque Country. This was followed by the arrest of the Runaí of Dublin Comhairle Ceantair Diarmuid Ó Dúbhghlais and another member during the visit of the Queen of England to the 26 Counties on May 20. And finally on June 30 last the newly appointed national Publicity Officer Geraldine McNamara had her home raided by the 26-County Special Branch.

Its obvious Republican Sinn Féin has something to say which Westminster, Stormont and Leinster House don’t want to hear or more importantly don’t want the rest of the Irish people to hear. What we have to say is simple. British Rule in Ireland and its various institutions are an obstacle to a New Ireland and a lasting settlement. Our message has roots deep in the psyche of the Irish people. It is the same message delivered by Wolfe Tone, Emmet, Davis, Lalor, Pearse, Connolly, Mellows and Sands. In short we want: “To break the connection with England the never failing source of all our political evils.” You can lock up the messenger but not the message.

The arrest and charging of the President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton and Vice President Fergal Moore in Lurgan, with participation in a protest march on July 6 is clearly the latest in a campaign to silence Republican Sinn Féin by both the British and 26-County States.

The march in Lurgan, organised by Republican Sinn Féin on January 23, was held as part of campaign calling for the release of veteran Republican Martin Corey – interned without trial since April 2010 - as well as to protest at the non-implementation of the August 12, 2010 Agreement in Maghaberry Prison.

On February 16 the RUC/PSNI issued a letter to the President of Republican Sinn Féin accusing him of participating in an “illegal march” in Lurgan on January 23.

In May Republican Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle member Cait Trainor (Armagh), along with a member of the Thomas Harte Cumann in Lurgan Sean Maloney, was arrested and charged with a political interview given to Channel Four News in September 2010

During the protests in Dublin against the visit by the Queen of England in May the Secretary of Dublin Comhairle Ceantair Diarmuid Ó Dúbhghlais and another member of Republican Sinn Féin, were arrested solely for their participation in the protests. Diarmuid Ó Dúbhghlais was pictured by the media holding aloft the National Flag at the time of his arrest.

On June 30 the home of the newly appointed National Publicity Officer of Republican Sinn Féin Geraldine McNamara in Tipperary was raided by the 26-County Special Branch who refused to let her read the search warrant and her mobile phones were taken. Again this was act intended to silence and intimidate Republican Sinn Féin members and supporters.

The pattern of harassment continued with the arrest of the organisation’s President and Vice President on July 6. The opposition of the RUC/PSNI and the Public Prosecution Services (PPS) to bail for both men was clearly an attempt to intern Des Dalton and Fergal Moore by remand.

On July 8 Cáit Trainor was once again arrested at her home in Armagh and charged with breaking her bail conditions, with attending the picket on Lurgan RUC station on the night of Des Dalton’s arrest. She was taken straight to Craigavon courthouse

It is evident that the undiluted message of revolutionary Irish Republicanism delivered by Republican Sinn Féin is feared by Westminster, Stormont and Leinster House. It is a message and a cause whose roots lie deep within the hearts of Irish people. The age-old tactic, of locking up the messenger and silencing the message and the very idea of Irish freedom, has failed in the past and history teaches us will fail again today and in the future.

Carlow Republican Sinn Féin held a very successful picket at the Liberty Tree 1798 monument in Carlow Town today (Saturday July 9) from 1.00pm to 2.30pm. The picket was held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike in the H Blocks of Long Kesh in which Bobby Sands and nine other Republican prisoners died. The picket was also to highlight the present campaign of the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry prison for the right to political status.

During the protest leaflets were distributed explaining about the protest in Maghaberry prison as well as the plight of veteran Republican Martin Corey who is at present interned without trial in Maghaberry prison where he has been held since April of last year.

The picket was addressed by the Athy based President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton who said that the events of 1981 were not merely a matter of history: “Today young Irishmen in Maghaberry prison are engaged in the same struggle against the same enemy on the same principle of political status. Like Bobby Sands and his comrades the present Republican prisoners are resisting the attempts of the British Government and its surrogate at Stormont to criminalise the historic and noble struggle for Irish freedom.”

Des Dalton, President of Republican Sinn Féin was arrested outside Lurgan, Co Armagh on tonight, Wednesday, July 6 at around 8pm. He was on his way to speak at a protest march in support of the Maghaberry POWs in the Drumbeg Estate in Lurgan.

He was informed by the RUC/PSNI that he was being arrested in connection with an ‘illegal march’. The march in question was held in Belfast on January 23 in support of the Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail and in particular drawing attention to the case of Martin Corey, whose licence was revoked last year without any reason being given.

The Tony Ruane/Myles Shevlin Cumann of Republican Sinn Féin in Carlow will be marking the 30th anniversary of the 1981 H Block hunger strikes with apicket in Carlow Town on Saturday July 9. The picket will also be in solidarity with the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry Prison Co Antrim who have recommenced a protest in defence of their right to political status.

The picket will take place at the Liberty Tree 1798 monument from 1.pm to 2pm.

Speaking at a commemoration marking the 90th anniversary of the murder by British forces of John and Thomas O’Reilly, Peter McGennity and Patrick Quinn in Killeen, Co Armagh the President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton said:

“The nationalist people of the Six Counties have long experienced at first hand the terror and brutality of the British state. Gathering here to commemorate the murders of four soldiers of Oglaigh na hEireann at the hands of pro-British forces we are reminded that such dark deeds have been repeated time and again over the course of the last 90 years in the Six Occupied Counties.

“In the early hours of July 6 1921 – only four days before the truce with British forces – a British murder squad called to the homes of brothers John and Thomas O’Reilly, Peter McGennity and Patrick Quinn. All of them were volunteers in the First Northern Division of the IRA. The O’Reillys and Peter McGennity were driven a short distance from the McGennity house to the spot where they were shot dead. According to the Newry Reporter three quarters of an hour later the same murder gang raided the McQuaid home in Newry where Patrick Quinn was staying. Despite making a valiant attempt to escape Patrick Quinn was gunned down.

“Despite the fact that a sister of Peter McGennity told a British Military Inquiry that she could identify one of the murderers having seen him enter the British military barracks no was ever arrested or charged with the murders.

“The year 1921 had seen martial law declared in many parts of Ireland, habeas corpus was suspended while British forces engaged in a campaign of terror and murder. In 1920 the Lord Mayors of Cork and Limerick were murdered. In 1921 alone 322 young men were murdered in what have been called “official reprisals”.

“In March of the following year six members of the McMahon family along with Edward McKinney were murdered in Belfast by British forces. The following week saw another five nationalists murdered by the British Colonial police in the Arnon St massacre also in Belfast. Between June 1920 and July 1922 267 nationalist would be killed as a result of a British inspired sectarian pogrom. Dorothy Macardle in her authoritive history of that revolutionary decade ‘The Irish Republic’ wrote: ‘By June 18th, 1922, it was calculated, the total casualties since June 21st, 1920, were 1,766 wounded and 428 killed. The number driven from their homes, the ultimate triumph of the pogrom, was about 23,000. This work was carried out by the Specials and the mob. The British troops stationed throughout the towns of the Six Counties did not interfere.’

“During the current phase of the war against British rule in Ireland the British state has used similar methods in order to strike fear into the hearts of the nationalist community. In October 1976 in Whitecross, Co Armagh, a British-backed loyalist death-squad murdered six nationalists from two families, three from the Reavy family – one of whom died shortly after the attacks - and three from the O’Dowd family. The murder gang included members of the RUC and the British Army’s notorious UDR.

“The methods and policy of British Rule in Ireland does not change with time. Britain has always maintained its grip on Ireland through brutality and terror and has not taken anything off the table today in terms of the methods it will use to control the nationalist population.

“The 1998 Stormont Agreement was sold to the nationalist people of the Six Counties as providing a stepping-stone to a united and free Ireland. The Stormont Assembly is an obstacle on the road to a free Ireland not a stepping-stone.

“The events in the Short Strand in Belfast on June 21 and 22 along with the riots there over this weekend (July 1,2,3) and the response of the British state tell us that nothing has changed. Despite the admission of the RUC/PSNI that the attacks on the nationalist people of the Short Stand were “orchestrated” by the UVF, the first arrests were of two nationalists and within a day the Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson was sitting down to talk to the UVF.

“The report of British Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson into the murder of six nationalists in Loughinisland Co Down by a British directed loyalist death-squad in 1994 again exposes the true face of British Rule in Ireland. Hutchinson chose to ignore obvious evidence of collusion between loyalist death-squads and British Crown forces in his report. Again the British State protecting its own.

“Thirty years after the heroic sacrifice of Bobby Sands and his nine comrades in the H Blocks of Long Kesh Republican prisoners in Maghaberry prison are again embarking on a protest to uphold their right to political status and deny the attempt of the British Government and its surrogate regime in Stormont to criminalise the struggle for Irish Freedom. On June 30 they announced a return to protest as a result of the Stormont Justice Minister David Ford reneging on the independently mediated Agreement reached in August. We salute them and pledge them our activism and energy in support of their struggle. It is no less than our duty as Irish Republicans.

“Irish history has shown that there can be no lasting peace or settlement in Ireland as long as the British state continues to occupy Ireland. Each succeeding generation has shown willingness and ability to resist British rule and the present generation is no different in this regard. It is only by a full and total withdrawal of British military and political interference in Ireland can there be the basis for building a New Ireland.

“Republican Sinn Féin confidently puts forward Éire Nua as the only credible alternative to the two failed partitonst states. With its democratic check and balances and provision for local decision making within a free federal Ireland all sections of the Irish people will have a stake in the New Ireland.

“We honour the memory of four brave volunteers of the army of the All-Ireland Republic - the IRA - who gave their lives so that the Irish Nation might live. Our most fitting monument to them will be the re-establishment of that All-Ireland Republic. It is only then that we as a nation can march ‘to the dawn light of freedom.’”